Goodbye, Columbus: Penguins, Nedeljkovic Extend Jackets’ Slump

Alex Nedeljkovic hadn’t made it into a Pittsburgh Penguins game for two weeks until Friday night.

Good thing, too, because he probably needed every minute of the rest he got while watching Tristan Jarry make five consecutive starts.

Nedeljkovic faced 47 shots from Columbus in his return to active duty, and turned aside 44 of them in the Penguins’ 6-3 victory at PPG Paints Arena.

“He was great all night,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was a solid game for him.”

The win was the Penguins’ fifth in the past six games and raised their record to 29-32-10.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in a row, with five of those defeats coming in regulation. That slump has dropped Columbus out of a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference playoff field.

The Penguins, who have lost 13 games this season when holding a two-goal lead, took a 5-2 advantage into the third period, but Columbus whittled that to 5-3 at 3:45, as Kent Johnson threw a shot past Nedeljkovic from the inner edge of the right circle after carrying the puck out from behind the goal line.

Penguins alum Zach Aston-Reese gave his old club its first power play of the game at 6:54 by boarding Connor Dewar, but that man-advantage was cut a bit short when Philip Tomasino was penalized for tripping at 8:39.

Nedeljkovic thwarted the Blue Jackets’ effort to get within one with 3:31 to go in regulation, as he sprawled in the crease to deny Columbus forward Luke Kunin, and Bryan Rust sealed the outcome by scoring into an empty net at 18:03.

Defense didn’t seem like a priority for either club for much of the evening, and Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring at 5:28 of the opening period when he shoveled a backhander from along the goal line to the right of the net past Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins.

Tomasino and Dewar picked up assists on the goal, Malkin’s 14th.

Penguins winger Boko Imama and Columbus enforcer Mathieu Olivier added a little spice to the proceedings at 11:49, trading punches during an extended bout at center ice.

With Imama and Olivier in their respective penalty boxes, the Blue Jackets were able to again focus on the serious business of not paying much attention to structure or team defense.

Noel Acciari put the Penguins up by two at 13:51, as he beat Merzlikins with a backhander from the front edge of the crease for his fifth of the season and first in 34 games. Blake Lizotte got the only assist.

Boone Jenner countered for the Blue Jackets just 16 seconds later, deflecting a Denton Mateychuk shot out of the air and past Nedeljkovic.

Rickard Rakell got that one back almost immediately, however, as he was left unchecked at the top of the crease and flipped in a shot after taking a pass from Bryan Rust for his 32nd. Sidney Crosby got the second assist, extending his scoring streak to six games.

Penguins defenseman Conor Timmins swatted a puck into the net just 95 seconds into the second period but, unfortunately for his team, it was the net Nedeljkovic was guarding. The goal was credited to Columbus center Justin Danforth, the last Blue Jackets player to touch the puck before Timmins.

Imama restored the Penguins’ two-goal lead at 8:15, when his shot from inside the left circle eluded Merzlikins. The goal was his first of the season and second in 29 NHL games; assists went to Danton Heinen and Kevin Hayes.

Nedeljkovic made several quality stops during the second period, none better than his glove save on a blast from the left side by Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski at 12:33.

Crosby assured that the Penguins would lead at the second intermission for the sixth game in a row at 15:31, when he steered in a Matt Grzelcyk pass for his 25th of the season. Grzelcyk made the goal possible by holding in a Columbus clearing attempt at the blue line.

The Blue Jackets got the first power play of the game with 54.5 seconds to go in the period, as Imama was sent off for interfering with Aston-Reese, who he shoved to the ice from behind. Columbus failed to capitalize on that chance with the extra man.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to practice Saturday at noon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex before traveling to south Florida, where they will face Florida Sunday at 6:08 p.m.